ForbesOnTech

The Great 2011 Rose Garden Slaughter-- Using Forged Steel to Produce Good Looking Roses

 

When the sun came up on New Year’s Day weekend, my roses were between five and six feet tall. By sunset, I had reduced them to three-foot twigs firmly anchored in the soil of my little mountain here in San Diego County.

While I mostly focus on my organic vegetable I have to confess, I also have a very large rose garden and a lot of cymbidium orchids. I like and only grow hybrid tea roses—mostly because they are easily turned into long stemmed displays that I put on my kitchen counter or in my mother’s room. I spend much more time in my vegetable garden than I do amongst my roses, but  there comes a time every year when you need to reach for your pruning shears, collapsible saw, Elmer’s glue and sturdy gloves and cut the roses back… way back.

In addition to my forged metal pruning tools, I approach my annual rose pruning with knowledge born of reading several books on how to keep my roses healthy and looking good… As well as a life-long interest in California’s missions, virtually all of which have excellent looking rose gardens. The best books I’ve seen on Roses all have been published by Sunset and the most outstanding roses I’ve seen are at the missions in Santa Barbara and San Gabriel, CA. I suppose it also helps that I went to an agricultural and technical college—Cal Poly, Pomona—which has a long history as a float operator in Pasadena’s Annual Tournament of Roses and which maintains extensive rose beds on its campus.

Cutting back rose bushes with as many as ten tight flowers always makes me a little sad. But I get over that feeling by the time the trash receptacle I tug along as I decimate the roses begins to fill. I try not to transition into a Zen-like state as I lope thick branches from my roses, and before long I’ve pruned my first column in the garden, leaving behind short healthy branches that with a little luck, will never produce growth that crosses over itself—and which remains open to many hours of sunlight in the forthcoming growing season. When it comes to pruning, my policy is one of simple wanton ruthlessness.

I’ve been disappointed with a patented pink rose I planted three years ago. So erly tomorrow morning, I’ll pull ten bucks out o my secret savings stash and cruise through a nursery looking for a pink hybrid tea to replace that non-thriving sucker.

Any branch that threatens noncompliance with my idea of what a good looking rose is instantly decapitated and its thorn-ridden branch is unceremoniously tossed into the waste tub. When I prune low enough, or feel my yearly slaughter has gotten out of hand, I yank out the Elmer’s Glue and I seal the cut.

Hey a bottle of Elmer’s is a lot less expensive than some high falutin’ tube of mystery vegetable caulk/sealing agent sold in a high end gardening catalog.

Having slashed my way through the rose garden like a crazed beaver, my five containers of pruned wood are now down on  the street where it will be picked up at daybreak, Friday morning. The fruit trees below my house on the sloping lawn get a reprieve. Anyway, I pruned my two peaches way back last year , after a 200 pound Avalon crop in 2010 resulted in three broken branches.

My beloved golden apricots het hacked tomorrow morning. With a little bit of luck—and a lot of netting-- I’ll hold the birds at bay long enough to get 50 pounds of fruit from my seven trees.

A final note on my roses: I live at the interface of wild lands and mid-sized city. In the nine years I’ve lived here, I’ve watched three wild fires roar through here. If another fire comes close to my house, my chainsaw gets fired up and every rose near my house dies! Roses are extremely flammable. If you’ve ever seen a rose garden explode next to a home you understand why they are extreme fire hazards.

Besides, I can replace every rose in my garden very inexpensively. Replace my home affordably? Not so easy.

Last night, after whacking the roses, I was amuse to see two squirrels looking up at the sky through pruned sticks with a “WTF?” expression on their chubby little faces. Sorry guys, the cover you thought you had from the local hawks and other predators will come back in a few weeks. There’s always the ice plant hedge-- providing the hungry cacomistle (aka a “miners cat” or “ringtail”) isn’t hiding there.—Jim Forbes on 12/30/2011 from behind the avocado curtain in Northern San Diego County.

Rescue, CA , and Unleashing My Inner HucK

Whenever I need to recharge my deep discharge batteries, I pack up and load out for my secret retreat near stands of towering California heritage oaks and the fast flowing American River which based o observations yesterday, appears to be laden with shoals of rainbow trout just minutes before he season opener.

My retreat is located in the tiny village of Rescue, California, Not located near anyplace, Rescue has everything I need to get perspective on my life.

Rescue lacks a gas station, a supermarket, convenience stores. It’s a place where you plan and shop for your meals before you make the three-mile trek up from US 50.

I’m chirped awake in Rescue by choruses of nesting birds and the raucous screams of mocking birds trying to imitate the mating calls of chainsaws. Yeah Boy! Rescue makes me smile.

Rescue is a red dirt kind of town. It’s 1300 inhabitants are a mix of retired state, aerospace and electronis workers who fled cities for the rural California dream.

Even television reception is a problematic thing here in Rescue. The local branch of the El Dorado County Library is very busy and the delivery person for the Sacra mento Bee fulfills a lot of subscriptions, rain, shine or infrequent snow.

When I come up here, I stay with my best friend and his family, which includes my Godson, AJ.--- aka “Der Bub.”

Rescue has become an important part of my life. It’s where I go when I need to recharge or expand my horizons. It’s a pace where I laugh, read, and can stretch out my writing style. I come here every time when I really need to see life afresh. After I was legal to drive again after my stroke, the first place I wanted to go was Rescue. And the first thing I did when I got here was fire up “Sparky the Flame Throwing Tractor” and mow four acres of green weeds.

Rescue unleashes my Inner Huck.

When I’m up here I’m in full blown Huck “Put Your Back Into It, Jim” Mode. It doesn’t matter if its cutting weeds, tinkering in the barn, or researching a story I want to write about deja vue all over again California gold prospectors. But the persistent theme of my time up here recently has been to hang out with Der Bub. Laugh amd help him fledge into manhood. AJ starts high school this year, and lately I’ve come to really emjoy my role as a Godfather.

Lunch with AJ at a wing gril in Folsom is very enjoyable. Table top conversations about whether the M14 or the M16 was a better Infantry Rifle are pretty routine, taking Der Bub to a sporting goods store to buy his first athletic supporter following the conversation was something I’ll always remember and smile about.

I have three big chores today; mow my friend’s upper field with Sparky, reduce a five foot tall burn pile to ashes and pump wine into French oak barrels for aging. Let’s see, show my Godson how to safely burn pruned wood-- that’s easy. Mow two acres without causing an conflagration, even easier. Maybe catch a couple of fat trout down at the confluence of Weber Creek and the South Fork of the American?

Be still my damaged heart.

I kind of go off my diet when I’m here. But that’s allowed, Rescue is about enjoyment, and relaxation. And while it doesn’t have a gas station or a convenience store, there a Bell Market six miles away and Huck wants to show his skinny Godson how to make sausage gravy for biscuits and gravy. --Jim Forbes on 4/22/2011.

Spooling up for 2011 Halibut Fishing-- Its Spring and the Flatties are Hungry and Horny

 
 

There are few things I like more than halibut fishing and Spring is when halibut here on the Southern California coast  are hungry and horny.
On a good day,Brown flatties  test your skill, and fishing tackle. On a bad day they test your patience and sometimes make you wish you’d taken up golf.My approach to halibut fishing is that of an experienced observational angler.
I cheat: I mark the locations on a map of the southern California coast where I've caught them in the past, and I note weather, water and tides on the map. That map lives in a plastic bag in my smelly tackle box.
Over the last eight years I've managed to routinely get decent legal California Halibut into my boat  and developed an appreciation for making sure I use the right terminal tackle when I’m stalking flatties.
The quickest way for me to reevaluate golf as a substitute hobby for fishing is when: I’m looking at 25 yards of expensive monofilament disappearing into the surf line, get a hit, start smoothly cranking, feel the fish  begin to fight, get it close enough to the shore (to see that it’s a legal sized, 24-inch,fish) and have the line go slack.
Oops. I forgot to use wire leader-- something I do at least once every couple of years.
My love of halibut fishing was fueled early in my youth by seeing 36-inch or larger halibut caught by family members.There are few species here in Southern California that fight like a flatty, or which taste as good.
And there still here, if you know where to fish and don’ forget to use the right bait or lure and always remember to use wire leader as part of your terminal tackle.
One of my favorite places to fish for halibut is aboard Camp Pendleton at Red Beach and Crystal Cove, in Orange County, south of Newport Beach offf the Pacific Coast Highway (“PCH”).
Camp Pendleton’s Las Pulgas (aka “Red”) Beach is under utilized and is a pristine halibut fishery. It’s also one of the prettiest camping areas in California.. It’s inner tidal zone is sandy with just enough structure to make your basic ambush feeding flatty very happy.   
The trick here is to get your bait or lure just beyond or in the surfline. I heave one and half ounce surf lead with four feet of leader connected to a whole shank-hooked anchovy. No bait is available at this  beach , so bring your own. I've had as much success in the last three years throwing a green and white spoon with a number two hook as I have had with bait  Also,  every flatty I’ve caught here or up the coast at Crystal Cove State park, has been on slack water right before an ebb flow in about ten feet of water.
Red beach is part of Camp Pendleton. to reach it take the Las Pulgas Road off ramp off of I-5 between Oceanside and San Clemency , CA) .
For more information on or camping permits for Las Pulgas beach call  the Camp Pendleton Duty Game Warden at (760) 725-3586 NO EARLIER THAN 1730 (5:30 P.M.) THURSDAY prior to a weekend to determine if the beaches are “open” for camping.  The Duty Game Warden is the ONLY individual who has the correct up-to-date information on whether the beach is open or closed.  Military policemen at entrance gates do not have this information.   Bee aware that beach areas may be restricted or closed at anytime due to military training requirements.  Therefore, campers are advised to phone the Duty Warden prior to leaving their residence in order to get the most up-to-date information
Warning; if you’re fishing Red beach in limited visibility and hear what sounds like one or more DC10’a and heavy machinery, reel in quickly and find a place nearby where you’re easily seen. This beach is often used by the Marines to practice amphibious assaults so it’s not uncommon to see giant air cushion or tracked landing craft lumbering ashore here. If you’re asked to leave by members of the Marine Shore Party. do so using the exit paths shown.
 
Crystal Cove crystal cove map-- is where I really learned to enjoy surf fishing as a kid, is my other favorite halibut fishery. you need to bring your own bait.this California state park has everything a growing halibut wants: basic structure, sandy bottom and a surplus of tasty bait; including surf perch. Crystal cove is also the location of my biggest ever California Halibut sighting. While snorkeling just beyond the surf I noticed an irregular shape nestled down on the sand. I suspect the fish was 42 to 48 inches long and at least 45 pounds. i deeply regretted not having a spear with me. Snorkeling any beach where you intend to fish regularly for Halibut is a great idea because it lets you visualize the bottom and examine the fishery.
There are a couple of other great halibut fisheries on the Southern California coast. Highest on my list are Zuma beach in Malibu and the small sandy beaches between Oceanside and Carlsbad.
So don’t wait for the warm summer sun. It’s almost Spring so re-spool your reels with good medium weight monofilament, sharpen your hooks and don’t forget your wire leader and a pair fishing pliers. It’s halibut time on the Southern California coast--Jim ”Gone Fishing” Forbes- on 02/21/2011.

"Buenos Tardes senorita Ringtail, Make Yourself right at home in my Avocado Tree!"

Out in my orchard picking left-behind( aka "shiners") avocados and experienced the sensation of being watched.

Spied a nice plump 3-pound Reed avocado hidden back in a tree, reached in and got hissed at by 46 Ginsu 2000 teeth. "Buenos Tardes, Senorita Ringtail" Go right ahead make a nice den in my tree.
Oh the joys of living amongst wild things.

Off To Best The Elephant-- Loading up for a Field Reporting Trip to Nor Cal and "The Angle"--Reporting a Good Tale-- but no Leaping Lizards or Jumping Frogs Just Yet!

At last, I’ve completed the basic reading list needed to intelligently report the story I’m working on. The important stuff—raw notes, basic questions, clean maps converted from their native yellowed states into crisp PDFs now exist on a 750 GB backup appliance that’s sitting comfortably and safely in my bright red back pack nestled snuggly against my ThinkPad X61 touch screen portable, and the PDF printouts are in the first tabbed section of my “field notebook” which has grown from one inch to one and a half inches in the last ten days. In addition to sparkly black and white PDFs versions of maps,. I also have quarter-section topo maps of the area where I’m pursuing my winter research. Oh and a nice new warm oversize sleeping bag plus a pink Snuggy. Technology aside, the other essentials for this trip include a digital audio recorder, a large thermos and a new bottle of instant coffee, some granola bars and my winter and snow proof insulated jacket, The battery boosted heated socks are a sop to my age and physical condition. The gloves aren’t battery heated so, I’m also carrying a supply of chemical heating packs. I leave for the California Angle (Nevada County and the town of Alleghany) later this week. I‘ll be up there a couple of days, camping most of the time in my just paid-off Kia hamster van. Reporting stories was always the most enjoyable part of my career and I’m anxious to rekindle that spark. So off I go later this week to the Hills Across from Placerville Where the Winds Set my Soul Free—Jim Forbes Off on a Great Adventure 12/05/2010..

The Great Bunny PeachFest of 2010

There's a lost pet bunny hanging out in my front yard. All of the other cottontails laugh and call him names... I think I need to name him "Rudolph"  Pay no attention to the tree with so many peaches two branches broke. But hey,there's always next season.

First Crop of tubers and Tomatoes harvested-- Planning 2010 garden rev. 2.0.

Mid June is when I take a Long hard look at my garden. I’ve already picked four tomato plants clean and all of my potato mounds have flowered and died back—which means in about a week – (or as soon as the vines turn yellow brown) It will be time to dig up and store my first crop of spuds for 2010.

After I excavate the potatoes and pluck my last basket of tomatoes from the withering vines, I’ll be left with about 72 square feet of garden soil I need to reinvigorate using my tiller and the contents of my ever growing compost pile. On Father’s Day I did some basic soils testing and was unsurprised to learn my nitrogen and potassium levels are low—potatoes leech both from garden soil. So before I decide what I’ll replant, I‘ll boost the levels of both using an organic potting soil I like.

I haven’t made p my mind what I’m going to replant, but the four sprouting russet potatoes in my kitchen will probably be recycled end up in Garden 2010- 2.0. I also want to try and grow some large Roma tomatoes and two rows, of mildly spicy peppers, both of which will be used in my yearly tomato sauce canning project.

I also have more squash in 6 inch planters on my potting table.

My 2010 celery project is turning out much better than expected. I’m about 45 days away from harvesting my three rows and I’m really impressed by my Utah Tall celery’s all around flavor and sweetness. There really is no comparison between store bought and home grown celery. So, my 2011 garden will have at least two long rows of this vegetable.

I also have three rows of fruit trees and one of my on-going goals has been to produce a “perfect” free stone peach. Last year I pruned my peaches and this year three of my four Avalons are in full production, proof of which is overburdened branches with up to 45 peaches drooping dangerously low to the ground. About half of the peaches on my “test” tree are headed to the 12-ounce mark.

What I did wrong this year is not thinning my peachcrop sooner. That’s the bad news. The good news is not one person in my family has ever said “no thank you” to a basket of fresh peaches. And this year I’ll be giving away many baskets.

My peaches and apricots will be ready to harvest in about 10 days, so it’s time to cut back on my irrigation—which helps concentrate the flavors in ripening fruit.

My three year old Reed avocados have set and their green cannonball-sized fruit are developing nicely. My goal this year is to plant five more Reeds and two Fuertes avocados, which eventually will result in a year-round availability Reed, Pinkerton, Haas or Fuertes fruits. Most non Southern Californians have never seen a Reed avocado, which when placed on a kitchen table universally generates an “O Dios mio!” ( “ODM” or “OMG” English equivalent) reactions because of their colossal size and superior taste.

Gardening is a pleasant experience: It forces me to use my stroke affected left hand and I work shirtless, which results in a tan.And all of those are good things—Jim “Farmer” Forbes on 0621/2010.

Spring East Fork San Gabriel River Fishing Report; Fat Rainbows For the Creel

My loyal corps of fish scouts working the East Fork of the San Gabriel River have been calling this week with exciting messages. Although there’s no cotton grown anywhere near Azusa, CA<, the fish are jumping. Right from the water into the creels.

My two most reliable San Gabriel River fishing scouts checked in this week with very good news, near limit fishing from trips up the East Fork and to waters underneath the East Fork bridge off Highway 39.

Both of my buddies are pretty serious water whipping fly fishermen, but if you look in their creels closely you’ll find not only selections of backup flies, 4X and 6X tippet leaders but also split shot and—dare I reveal it—Pauztkes Balls of Fire premium salmon eggs.

When it comes to fishing both of my buddies are serious trout hunters.

Fishing high up on the East Fork “has ne’er been better, laddy” teased longtime east fork fisherman Scotsman Bill C.

“But you need to get up there before all the spring fatties are caught.” I think I’m already sorry I showed him my two super-secret spots on the East Fork, although I think I’ll make it up there this week to make sure that, like the legendary Dude, fat local rainbows still “abide.”

While it’s possible to take trout almost anywhere on the East Fork up river from the East Fork Ranger Station, there are two under fished sections I want to write about.

The first is a small pond that sits behind an old stone damn about two miles up from the Ranger Station. Over the last 40 years, this little pond has been my go-to-place to catch a few trout for the evening frying pan. This small pond is one of the few places on the river where you can cast a fly on a long tippet without worrying about adding fishing decorations to the oaks and other mountain hardwoods that are at stream side.  Or best results, go upstream and float your fly into the deepest edges of the pond (on it’s right side,  facing downstream, then work the fly up water through the series of rills that feed this pond. One of the reasons I really love this water is because every third or fourth fish appears to be a native East Fork trout with a flashy Chinese red stripe on its side.

Unsur whether the trout in your net is a hatchery raised stocker, or a native? If the colors seem bight, and it fights tooth and nail all the way to the side of the stream, it’s most likely a native.  If it’s small, gently release it and maybe you’ll catch it as a two-pound adult next year.

I’m not always a catch and release fisherman on streams that produce limits, but if I think the fish can do the native gene pool some good, back it goes. It’s this philosophy that has lead me to carry two sets of flies when I fish the east Fork; barbed and barbless.

There is another great spot on the East Fork to whet your appetite for fly fishing that’s within 45 miles of downtown Los Angeles. That spot is approximately four.5 miles up the East Fork at the base of a stone formation locally known as “Swan Rock.”

Swan Rock is just downstream from the aptly named “Bridge to Nowhere” and it should be on the list of trout fishing destinations for all East Fork fishermen,] except those who are on the river at the same time as I am.

In my 61st year, I encourage everyone to fly fish, but, this stretch has yielded many fine fat rainbows on salmon eggs, floated down the side of the stream for members of my family as well as me.

With stream flows ebbing from yearly high flow, now is also the time to slog through the numerous crossings needed to trek up to Iron Fork and beyond. The nine-mile hike to Iron Fork isn’t for the feint hearted. It involves numerous stream crossings and a gain in elevation of more than 1,000 feet. But once you’re upstream of the “Bridge to Nowhere” the water is normally yours’ alone. There are several spots to hit near the confluence of the Iron Fork and the East Fork. The first: an icy stretch just north of the confluence of the two streams and the second; westerly up the Iron Fork. Hiking up the Iron Fork , as soon as you see a spot on this frigid creek that makes you dream of sliding down a boulder into the water, resist the temptation an take a moment to scout the water in the pool that caught your eye in the first place. That pool may be the best spot on all of the San Gabriel to tussle with a large native rainbow whose genetic heritage stretches back to ocean running steel heads trout that made this watershed their home before two dams blocked access to the Pacific.

Don’t’ believe me? Quietly cast a fly in this pond and see what happens! but don’t be surprised when something akin to a finned freight train snaps your tippet.

Don’t think you’re up to making a nine mile hike all the way up to Iron Fork? Then grb your rod, reel and kids, drive north on highway 39 to the East Fork bridge, par and pick your way down to the confluence of the San Gabriel Damn with the East and West Forks and toss a salmon egg weighted with a slit shot into the ageless flowing waters and patiently wait for a tug on your line.  With Spring here, mature stockers aged in the dams waters wait anxiously to begin genetically imprinted spawning runs, upstream past sand babks where it’s still possible to catch a tasty limit of healthy rain bow trout. And it’s all within a short 90-minute drive of LA Civic Center. Even better, it’s a year–round fishery.—Jim Forbes, a second generation East For fisherman, on 03/25/2010.

Disclosure: A fishing license is required to take trout on the East and West Fork as well as in the actual San Gabriel River. A day use pass (which can be purchased at the US Forest Service kiosk at the beginning of Azusa Canyon Road) is also required.

If you park your car at the East Fork Ranger Station, or near the Bighorn Sheep or East Fork Bridges, make sure all valuables- are secured out of view and your car is securely locked. Moreover, do not leave snacks such as Winchell’s’ or Yum Yum donuts where black or brown bears can smell or see them. Unless you really want to see how a bear can disassemble a car in mere minutes in search of a tasty snack)

Getting Ready for My First Book Project-- Tchnology That Goes With Me Into the Field

My mind has been taken up recently by a book idea that’s been building since I first became a reporter more than four decades ago.

I’ve always questioned whether or not I could turn out a non-fiction book on this specific subject and without realizing it, I’ve come to the decision that it’s time to start in earnest. I’m not going to give the title away in my blog, but this topic is something most of my friends and family have watched me immerse myself in since childhood.

Sitting to my left are three mid-sized boxes of research material including a lot of quantitative data on the subject. Pouring over the data I’ve come to realize that the topic for this book may be as viable today as it was over 150 years ago. Making sense of the numbers behind this subject hasn’t been easy, but watching the totals accumulate reinforces my growing belief that there’s a good book in this topic.

Crunching numbers has never been one of my strengths, but now I’ve reached the point where it’s time  to connect faces and stories and tales of explorations succeeded and failed to the numbers. It’s this part of the project that’s exciting to me.  The next phase is field research and proof of my preparation for this phase sits in a corner of my garage.

 To wit: out in a corner of my garage sit several boxes loaded with an insulated sleeping bag, an inflatable mattress, portable battery operated air pump, a new Sherpa stove, several old blackened by years of camping pots and pans, a small tent,, tarps and collapsible table chairs and my aged Coleman lantern. In a much sturdier wooden box are a mini CD recorder, cameras, a portable printer, and sundry electronic paraphernalia needed to use my computers, cell phones and GPS systems for days on end away from an electrical outlet. Oh and in an old briefcase that’s part of my pile I have an annotated collection of quarter sectional maps for drainages and geographic features that feed the mineral rich districts of northern California.

I’m not packing for a six week hump through the wilds of California, but I recognize the need to be prepared for things that might pop up unexpectedly—such as the need to pull a couple of big trout from Fuller Lake or to punch holes in a tin can from 100 feet away or so with my ancient Ruger .22 or the even older Tokarev semi-automatic pistol I brought home from Vietnam as a war trophy. I also have four volumes of Kevin Starr’s California historical works to keep my engaged while I do my field research.

I have my route all laid out on a Auto Club map of California, and my notepads, pens  and pencils are packed in my briefcase with my annotated maps.

I’m using technology to reduce the amount of paper I need to take into the field. High on this list is ClickFree’s back up appliance, which contains much of my text-based research and contact info, then comes my beloved Lenovo X60 ultra-portable with its integrated Verizon data networking card. And just in case there’s I’ve forgotten a file, I’m using a second backup solution that I can access from anywhere I have an Internet connection. I’ve been using Seagate technology’s Free Agent USB-based Free Agent backup device for several months in addition to ClickFree’s device. I love them both but it’s the addition of the networkable FreeAgent DockStar networking adapter that’s let me focus more on research and forget worrying that I left something behind when I start my research up in the northern part of the state on both sides of highway 49/

There are two things that are foregone conclusions as I move my research away from academic and commercial sources and into the field: The first is that my needing to access something back on my home network is a given; Secondly, that piece of information invariably will be in  the one folder I didn’t copy to the backup device I take into the field. That’s where Seagate’s DockStar networking adapter saves my bacon.

I’m trying to keep the amount of stuff I haul up to Northern California on this trip manageable.

But what really excites me is meeting 21st Century Argonauts tramping California’s riverbeds, mountains and hills in search of presumed fortunes.

I’ve waited all my life to research and write this.  At last, the boy from Azusa now in the autumn of his years has come full circle but has the skills and material to put the story to paper.

And the story has been there in plain sight all these years, just waiting for me to begin tromping the Hills of Placerville, where the winds and the tales of hopeful fortunes waft free. At long last I’m almost ready to write my first book. Jim Forbes on 2/23/2010.

Best Book Ever on the Donner Party: "The Indifferent Stars Above: the harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride"

For years I’ve waited for a book that delivers an in-depth information on a 19^th Century tragedy so great, its memory still dominates California’s pre-Gold Rush era  history.

That event was the winter stranding of the Reed Donner Party high in the Sierra Nevada, the year before Gold was discovered by millwright James Marshall on the South Fork of the American River in Columa, CA.

The book “the Indifferent Stars Above; the harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride”  provides the greatest insight I’ve yet to find on the Reed Donner tragedy. Its author is Californian Daniel James Brown, most recently the managing editor of Microsoft Books in Redmond, WA.

Brown describes his book on the Reed Donner Party as a “labor of love.” Throughout this book Brown has the uncanny ability to put you footsorely on the trail with the members of that pioneering band as they leave Illinois and make their way some 2,000 mile west to the Sierras Summit near Donner Lake.

Brown’s  Indifferent Stars repeatedly demonstrates that great reporting can bring new life to and a fresh perspective to controversial historical events. I was particularly impressed with Brown’s abilities to present his characters in their 19^th Century personas and then explain how their actions and behavior were shaped by their time and circumstances.

Brown also provides new insight into a long list of bad choices made by the Reed Donner Party that continued as members of the first major group to escape the icy maws of the Sierra reached the edges of civilization in Bear Valley.

How good is Dan Brown in presenting the issues the Reed and Donner families faced during their ordeal? At times you feel your right there in the cabins with the mothers of all the children, as they used every resource at their disposal to ensure that the youngest members of this wagon train, hung on to life.  And as the children passed from starvation, malnutrition and exposure, Brown makes you understand exactly how hard the adults worked to keep them alive.

This is the first book I’ve read that put enough meat on the bones of the Reed Donner Party to show them in the context of their time reacting as best they could to unbelievably adverse conditions. Daniel James Brown goes on my short list of authors whose forthcoming works will be added automatically to my library.—Jim Forbes on 01/26/2010.